


You Were Raised In A Cult, Let Me Hug You

by Pippyville



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Parent Din Djarin, Hurt/Comfort, Maybe slightly ooc but I don't care at this point, Mentioned Grogu | Baby Yoda, Nightmares, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Protective Cara Dune, Sharing a Bed, The Mandalorian (TV) Season 2 Spoilers, Touch-Starved, Touch-Starved Din Djarin, kinda sorta ptsd, my first Mandalorian fic please be nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippyville/pseuds/Pippyville
Summary: Din is a wreck after letting Luke take Grogu. Cara notices and does her best to help, finding out a little more about him along the way.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Cara Dune
Comments: 41
Kudos: 218





	You Were Raised In A Cult, Let Me Hug You

**Author's Note:**

> Hi yes the ending of the show made me cry what about it.  
> This fic is purely platonic, even if there seems to be more to it. Let men and women cuddle without it being weird. They're just two bros being bros. Two space dumbasses being space dumbasses.

Din watched the Jedi take the little one away, and he felt his heart break. He’d just gotten Grogu back, and he was letting him go. A tear fell down his cheek, and he didn’t bother wiping it away, still staring at the door that had just closed. He didn’t know why he felt so sad, Grogu was going to be trained as a Jedi, just as he was supposed to be. He was safe, and with a proper and obviously powerful Jedi, and Moff Gideon was knocked out cold at his feet. He would be able to see Grogu again if all went well anyways. So why did he feel so empty?

He heard quiet, shuffling footsteps behind him and his neck prickled. He registered faintly in his mind that his face was showing, and that his emotions were on display for everyone inside to see. While it made him uncomfortable, he didn’t feel disgusted with himself like he thought he would. His stomach didn’t twist like it had when he was forced to expose himself in front of Mayfield and the others in that room. 

“...Mando?” Cara’s voice was uncharacteristically gentle as she spoke. “Are you-What do you want to do now?”

Din forced himself to move, to speak to her. “We-We’ll go back to someplace where I can get a new shp, and you can drop me off there.” he knelt down to grab his helmet, slipping it back on with a click. He turned.

The others were staring at him, Koska stared the most openly, an odd look on her face. Fennec was the first to move, opening a communication line with Boba Fett and asking for pickup. They couldn't very well be flying around in an enemy ship after all. 

Cara fidgeted in her seat, the sound of Boba’s ship in hyperspace not loud enough to mask the deafening quiet. The only sound was the occasional mumbling words exchanged, and the shifting of clothes-on-seats as people moved a bit. Mando wasn’t with them, he’d taken refuge in the storage compartments below. Cara wondered if he was okay. 

No, she told herself. He wasn’t okay, and no one could pretend that he was. He’d just shown his face - or the back of his head, really, - to people for the first time in years, and lost the child he had taken care of for so long.

She stood, drawing their attention to her for a moment before they went back to what they were doing. She left the main cabin and descended into the ship’s belly, not masking her footsteps so that Mando could hear her coming.

She found him sitting curled up on a crate, his helmet’s blank stare not turning to her. She sat down next to him, not speaking. 

After a few moments, Mando looked at her. “Do you need something?” he asked, not unkindly. She shook her head, and he sighed. “Then why are you here?”

“I didn’t want to ask in front of everyone else.” she said, bringing one leg up onto the crate to look casual, “But are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s a big ass lie.” She snorted, leaning back. “Your kid was just taken from you, again. And you’re just fine with that?”

Mando tilted his head, “He’s not my kid, and he wasn’t taken from me. That Jedi asked, and I gave him to someone who can take better care of him.”

“One, yes he’s your kid don’t give me that bullshit.” she held up two fingers, “Two, whether or not you agreed to it, he was still taken. Three, ‘that jedi’ is Luke Skywalker, and I don’t know how you’re so dense.” Mando stayed quiet. Cara sighed, “Look. Even if you were somehow perfectly fine with your kid - yes, your kid - being with someone you don’t know, even if it was something you wanted to happen, you took your helmet off. That’s gotta leave some shit in your head about us looking at you.”

“I don’t care how I look.”

“I’m not talking about that.” Cara grasped his shoulder firmly. She knew it was odd for her to be giving emotional support, she was more of a guns-a-blazin kind of woman, but her friend needed it right now. “And you know that. According to you it’s been what, almost your whole life that no one has seen your face? And suddenly a handful of people, some of whom I know you don’t know too well, looked right at you.”

Mando shook his head, “It’s just a face, it’s fine.”

“You’re sulking down here.”

“I’m not sulking.”

“Yes you are.” Cara raised an eyebrow. “Don’t argue with me, Mando. You’re not going to win. I’m not blaming your sulking on just your helmet, the kid’s more important. Just talk to me.”

Mando put his feel down on the floor, uncurling. “What do you want me to say? Huh? Thanks for the support, let me just forget that the kid is gone and that people have seen-” he cut himself off with what sounded suspiciously like a sob. 

“Mando?”

“What.”

“I’m not gonna force you to talk about this shit, but I’m here if you need me, yeah?”

“Right.” Mando looked at her, “I...thanks.”

“Right.” she repeated his word, “Well, I’m shit at this kind of thing, y’know emotions and stuff. So if I mess your mentality up more don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

That got a half-laugh out of the mandalorian, and that was good enough for now in her book. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You’d better.” she punched him slightly in the shoulder right under his armour, a grin on her face.

Mando nodded, “Alright.”

She stood, knocking his helmet slightly with her fist, “I’m here, yeah? If you wanna talk.”

“Yeah.” Mando nodded again, “You said that already.”

“Well I mean it, so hush.”

Cara was in the little room she had been granted in the ship when she was woken up by a light tapping at the door. She frowned, throwing back the covers and grabbing her gun - just in case. She opened the door and was surprised to see Mando standing in front of her, his arms crossed and slightly hunched over. “Mando?”

“Can I...can I come in?” he asked, and Cara felt her heart break a little. Even under the disguise of his helmat’s vocalizer, she could hear his voice trembling a little, and she instantly felt more awake. 

“Yeah, of course.” she twisted to the side to let him in. He followed her inside slowly, sitting down next to her on her bed. “What’s wrong?”

“I-” he paused, obviously unsure about this.

“Take your time.” she put a hand on his, squeezing it tightly.

He nodded, squeezing back. She noticed his hands trembling slightly, but didn’t comment, waiting for him to speak. He took a deep breath and looked at their intertwined hands. “I….I want to show you my face.”

She blinked, surprised. She thought he’d come to talk about Grogu, not..this. “Are you sure?”

He nodded, “If that alright with you.”

“I mean, yeah.” she tried to lighten the mood, “Don’t expect any compliments on your dashing features though.”

He didn’t respond, removing his hand from hers to slowly reach up to his helmet. They trembled harder as he clicked it and pulled it off, revealing a mess of brown hair. She looked at his face as he looked right at her, his jaw muscles working like he was grinding his teeth. He probably was, the poor guy looked like he was going to throw up. 

“Eh, not too bad.” she said, trying to keep things casual. “Helmet hair’s horrible though, you really need to brush it out.”

He didn’t smile, swallowing nervously. His voice was even smaller when it wasn’t being transmitted through his helmet, “I...I’m not...used to this.” he mumbled.

“Of course you’re not.” She shook her head disbelievingly, “You just took that thing off for the first time in forever only a few days ago, of course it feels weird.”

He nodded, running a hand through his hair, managing to smooth it a little bit. “I guess. Kind of.”

“Kind of?” 

“I was forced to take it off during my stint with Mayfield.” he said, fiddling with his helmet for a second, “It had to scan my face in order for me to get access to the stuff we needed.”

She felt herself tense, “Why didn’t Mayfield do it?”

“He was worried people would recognize him.” He sighed, “I know this isn’t a big deal, I see all of your faces every day but-”

“No, shut up.” she flicked him on the side of his head, “It’s a big deal for you. Again, you know, whole life and shit without people seeing you then bam being forced to take it off and be seen by the enemy first of all people? Yeah...pretty big deal.”

Mando looked at her, “I guess.” 

“Can I ask something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why now? I get wanting to show your face in front of Grogu since you might not see him again for a while, and he’s your kid.” she put extra emphasis on the last part, “but why show your face now? And why to me, of all people?”

“I’ve been doing some thinking.” he said, his face showing a range of emotions from uncomfortable to downright scared. The man obviously never needed to hide his emotions on his face before now, and it showed clear as day. She was glad, it made him easy to read. “I’m...I was talking with Bo-Katan a while back, and...You’ve probably noticed they don’t wear their helmets all the time like me?”

“Of course.”

“Well…” he took a deep breath, “I was...sort of raised in an offshoot of Mandalorians that have a different code, different ways of life we need to stick too, and-”

“You were raised in a cult.” she clarified.

He glared at her, but softened after a moment back into that awkwardly emotional face. “I guess.”

She leaned back a little, “Not great.”

“No, I suppose not.” he sounded so tired, so incredibly worn out. 

She touched his arm again, “So...why now then?”

“I don’t really know.” he said, “I just...I needed to show someone. I don’t know why, but it’s been eating me up since Grogu...left, and I trust you more than anyone else here. Or more than most people in my life, actually.”

She honestly felt touched, but she’d be damned if she let him know that, “I mean at least you didn’t bottle it all up. Good for you.”

He snorted softly, “Yeah. Good for me…” he trailed off. “Do you think he’s okay? Grogu, I mean.”

“Well, he’s with Luke Skywalker, a bit of a legend, not sure how you don’t know about him-”

“Cult.”

“Right.” she snorted, “anyways, I won’t give you a history lesson, but basically, yeah, I think the kid’s gonna be fine. Assuming he doesn’t get himself into some kinda trouble.” She looked back at him, surprised to tears brimming in his eyes. “Hey, are you alright?”

He wiped his eyes, trying and failing to make it look casual. “I’m fine.”

“You’ve tried that on me already.” she poked his cheek. She regretted it when he flinched away from it. “Shit, sorry.”

“No, no it’s fine.” he recovered quickly, his face turning slightly pink with embarrassment, “I’m not used to people touching my face, that’s all.”

“Yeah that makes sense.” she said, shrugging, “Don’t worry about it, I won’t do it again.”

He brought his legs up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees. “I miss the kid.” he said softly, like he was afraid the admittance might make her angry.

Cara moved closer to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder loosely, not quite a hug, but just as a bit of reassurance. She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but he seemed to lean into the touch. “Me too.” she hummed, rubbing his shoulder, “Me too. He’s in good hands though, as far as I know.”

Mando nodded, “I’m acting like a kid, aren’t I?” he gestured to his curled up position.

“Mando, you’re acting like someone who just had a personal crisis and lost their kid. I think you’re alright.”

“Din.”

“Huh?”

“My name, remember? Din Djarin. You can call me that since there’s more ‘mando’s’ on the ship than not.” 

“Oh. Okay then.” She paused, “Din.” The name felt odd on her lips, but it was a nice name, in her opinion. She noticed how he would lean into her touch but back off a second later, and something clicked in her brain. Din was touch-starved, wasn’t he? Of course he was, he wore armour all the time and no one had even seen his face until recently. “Hey, if you want you can take off your armour. You don’t have to, but it’s more comfortable that way.” she gestured to her own armourless body.

He hesitated, but a little nudge from Cara made him nod and stand, removing pieces of his armour off slowly, casting nervous glances at the woman occasionally. She only smiled at him as he piled it all in the corner of the room. He looked strange without it, not smaller, but thinner, less intimidating. He looked almost like a little kid dressed in rags with ratty hair and an unsure expression. She gestured next to her again, and he sat down. 

She wrapped her arm around him again, able to pull him closer without the armour. He let her pull without protest, “this feels weird.” he said, not pulling away. 

“Want me to stop?”

“No!” he realized he had said it a little too loud and winced, “No...sorry.”

She smiled, “Don’t worry about it. Stay as long as you’d like.” she took his hand, “You don’t touch people often, do you?”

He bit his lip, “uh...no.”

“Thought not.” She let go of him for a moment, heart aching at the somewhat betrayed look on his face before she settled behind him and bear-hugged him from the back. He squeaked, surprise replacing the previous emotion. 

“Wh-What are you-?” he asked, tensing up again. 

“Hug.” She said simply, “You need one, methinks. You alright with that?”

He nodded, relaxing into her touch. No, he practically melted into her arms, a little sigh escaping his lips. She grinned, “I’ve been told I have good arms for strangling people, so I figured a gentle strangle might be nice.” He giggled, and she gaped. “Holy shit you can laugh.”

He went beet red and groaned, “Shush.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret.” She rested her chin on his head, his hair tickling her neck. He smiled a little before a large yawn escaped him. “Aw, sleepy?”

He rolled his eyes, “Haven't gotten too much sleep these past few days”

“Oh?”

He paused, “...Nightmares.” he sighed, unsure of why he was spilling all his secrets tonight. Maybe he was just tired of them all.

“Ah, yeah. I get that.” She nodded, “Those aren’t fun.”

“No...they’re not.”

“I won’t ask what they’re about.”

Din nodded, “Thank you.”

She held him close, knowing that if someone were to come in they would probably think they were a thing. She snorted at that, and Din looked up at her. “What?”

“Just thinking.” she said, adjusting herself, “Are you alright? Right now, generally speaking, I mean.”

He nodded, “I’m fine. Just a little weirded out I guess.”

She shrugged, “That’s fair.” she squeezed him tighter, “You can stay here tonight if you want. Or whatever “tonight” is in space.”

He didn’t hesitate before saying, “Thank you.”

Din hadn’t been sure why he’d come to Cara in the middle of a rest cycle. He knew he was interrupting her sleep, and he felt a bit guilty for it, but he desperately needed to talk to someone, to show himself, to talk about the kid a little.

He hadn’t been prepared to end up armourless and cuddling with the usually very stoic woman. His skin burned where she touched it, both unused and uncomfortable with it, while also wanting it to never end. He knew that their position was one usually only taken by lovers, but there were no romantic feelings involved here. He was glad, and glad that Cara was alright with doing what they were doing. 

Feeling her hands leave his sides, he forced himself not to grab them and pull them back. She didn’t leave though, instead running her fingers gently through his hair, the feeling making him jump slightly before relaxing again. 

“Do you wanna lie down? You looked exhausted.” Cara said, pausing her fingers.

He shrugged, “Whatever you want, I don’t…” don’t what? Want to intrude? You’ve already done that, Din. Want to talk? Yes you do. Weren’t tired? He was exhausted, no sleep for the past few days wreaking havoc on his body.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” She let go of him and stretched, popping her back, “Not gonna make you though if you don’t want to.”

He hesitated, “I...Sure?”

“Sick.” She flopped backwards onto the bed and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him down next to her. He hit the mattress with a grunt, curling up on his side away from her. She pulled him closer, her arm firmly around his chest. It felt nice, like he was being protected, and it was warm. He remembered faintly another woman, his mother, holding him close like this. He nestled back further into her arms and she said, “This is awkward as shit isn’t it?”

He hummed, “I guess.”

“You like it or nah?”

“I...I like it.” he whispered, fiddling with his fingers. He slipped off his gloves and threw them next to his armour, relishing in the cool air on his skin. “Sorry about all this.”

He felt Cara shift behind him and start petting his hair again, “Don’t worry about it. I’m not exactly busy, and besides, this is your first hug in years according to you, and that’s much more important than sleep.”

He pulled his legs up a little, “...Thank you.”

“No problem.” she squeezed his arm. “Try and sleep if you can, yeah?”

“Yeah.” he nodded, closing his eyes. He didn’t sleep right away, his body tense and unfamiliar with everything going on. But as she rubbed his arm and pet his hair he slowly felt himself relaxing and being pulled under.

It was only a little while later when Cara felt the man stir in his sleep, mumbling something incomprehensible. She waited for a moment, unsure if it was a bad thing. He whined, “gro...stop…”

She gently shook him, alarmed. “Hey, Man- Din. Wake up buddy, it’s just a dream.”

He slowly blinked himself awake, and seemed to register someone behind him. He flinched away from her, nearly falling off of the bed. Cara touched his shoulder, “Hey, it’s just me. You’re safe.”

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes clearing. “Cara?”

“Yeah, hi.” she sat back, relieved. 

He surged forward, burying his face in her chest. She blinked, “Uh...Din? You alright there buddy?”

He shook his head, “They-they had him. He was dead, the-the-”

“Din, hey. Look at me.” she gently touched his face, turning his head to look up at her, “It’s alright. It was just a dream.”

He swallowed, taking a deep breath and sitting back. “Sorry, sorry.” he mumbled, pressing his lips together.

“Don’t worry about it.” she took his arm, “Nightmare?”

He nodded, “They got Grogu. They-they killed-” he hiccuped, a tear sliding down his face. 

Cara reached over and wiped it away, cupping his face. “Grogu is safe. You know that. We’re all safe right now.”

He reached up and touched her hand, “We don’t know that.”

“You saw how Skywalker blasted through those drones.” She said, “He’s as safe as he can be right now. He’ll be even safer with Skywalker’s training, able to defend himself.” 

“You’re right...I know you’re right, logically.” he rubbed his eyes, “I just…”

“You’re nervous, that’s fine.” She said, lowering her hand. “Don’t worry so much, everything’s gonna be fine.”

He glanced at his armour, “I should probably go now. I’ll-”

“Nope.” she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him back onto the bed, “You’re staying here. It’s the law.”

He rolled his eyes, “Yes, and a bounty hunter follows the law so closely.” he didn’t fight her on it though. He pressed his face into the crook of her neck, closing his eyes again. “I’m worried about him.”

She pinched his ear, “That’s obvious.” she teased, “Don’t worry. He’ll be alright with the Jedi.”

He nodded, “Right. I know that.”

She touched his back gently, “Then you know he’s safe. Don’t worry so much, dumbass.”

“I’m not a dumbass.”

“You didn’t know who Luke Skywalker was.”

“Cult.”

“Shut up.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first Mandalorian/Star Wars fic, I hope you guys liked it!


End file.
